Ryōmō Line

Ryōmō Line
JR East 115 series EMU at Oyama Station
Overview
Locale	Gunma, Tochigi prefectures
Termini	Oyama Shin-Maebashi
Stations	18
Operation
Opened	1889
Operator(s)	JR East
Technical
Line length	84.4 km (52.4 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC overhead catenary
Operating speed	95 km/h (60 mph)
Route map

The Ryōmō Line (両毛線, Ryōmō-sen) is a Japanese railway line connecting Oyama in Tochigi Prefecture with Maebashi in Gunma Prefecture. 84.4 km (52.4 mi) long, the line is owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The name refers to the fact that Gunma and Tochigi prefectures were once part of an ancient province called Keno (毛野), which was later split into Kōzuke (Gunma) and Shimotsuke (Tochigi). This line connects both halves of the old province.

Services

Most Ryōmō Line services continue beyond Shin-Maebashi and terminate at Takasaki on the Jōetsu Line. Local trains run about once in an hour during the day between Oyama and Maebashi and twice or three times as frequently between Maebashi and Takasaki. Some rapid services from Ueno and the Shōnan-Shinjuku Line travel through onto the Ryōmō Line, but they stop at every station.

Akagi limited express services travel to Maebashi from Ueno (four times daily to Maebashi, two or three times daily to Ueno) or Shinjuku (one round trip daily). On the weekdays some Akagi services are branded Swallow Akagi.

Station list

Line	Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Transfers	Location
			Between stations	Total
Ryōmō Line	Oyama	小山		0.0	Tōhoku Shinkansen, Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line), Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Mito Line	Oyama	Tochigi
	Omoigawa	思川	5.4	5.4
	Tochigi	栃木	5.4	10.8	Tōbu Nikkō Line, Tōbu Utsunomiya Line	Tochigi
	Ōhirashita	大平下	4.4	15.2
	Iwafune	岩舟	4.1	19.3
	Sano	佐野	7.3	26.6	Tōbu Sano Line	Sano
	Tomita	富田	4.5	31.1		Ashikaga
	Ashikaga	足利	7.1	38.2	Tōbu Isesaki Line (Ashikagashi)
	Yamamae	山前	4.5	42.7
	Omata	小俣	4.6	47.3
	Kiryū	桐生	5.6	52.9	Watarase Keikoku Line Jōmō Line (Nishi-Kiryū)	Kiryū	Gunma
	Iwajuku	岩宿	2.3	56.9		Midori
	Kunisada	国定	6.4	63.3		Isesaki
	Isesaki	伊勢崎	5.8	69.1	Tobu Isesaki Line
	Komagata	駒形	5.8	74.9		Maebashi
	Maebashi-Ōshima	前橋大島	3.2	78.1
	Maebashi	前橋	3.8	81.9	Jōmō Line (Chūō-Maebashi)
	Shin-Maebashi	新前橋	2.5	84.4	Jōetsu Line (for Shibukawa), Agatsuma Line
Jōetsu Line
	Ino	井野	3.3	87.7		Takasaki
	Takasakitonyamachi	高崎問屋町	1.2	88.9
	Takasaki	高崎	2.8	91.7	Jōetsu Shinkansen, Nagano Shinkansen, Takasaki Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Shin'etsu Main Line, Hachikō Line Jōshin Electric Railway: Jōshin Line

Rolling stock

The following train types are used on the Ryōmō Line.

• 107 series
• 115 series (now only 115-1000 series)
• 185 series (Akagi limited express services)
• 211 series
• 651 series (Akagi limited express services)
• E231 series
• E233-3000 series EMUs (since 1 September 2012)

History

The Oyama to Kiryu section was opened in 1888 by the Ryomo Railway, and extended to Shin-Maebashi the following year. The company merged with the Nippon Railway in 1897, and that company was nationalised in 1906.

The line was electrified in 1968, the same year the Iwafune - Sano and Komagata - Maebashi sections were double-tracked.

Freight services ceased in 2004.

Former connecting lines

• Tochigi station - The Nabeyama Railway Co. opened a 16km 610mm line to its namesake town in 1900 principally to haul limestone. Diesel locomotives were introduced in 1941, the year that passenger services ceased. The line closed in 1960.

• Iwafune station - The Tochigi Prefectural Government operated a 7km 635mm gauge human powered line to Sotogawa between 1899 and 1916.

• Sano Station - The 5 km Tōbu Sano Line segment to Koena operated between 1890 and 1917.

• Tomito station - A 7km 762mm gauge line built primarily to haul limestone operated between 1915 and 1927.

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.

External links

• Stations of the Ryōmō Line (JR East) (Japanese)